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Contents/Summary

Introduction: What this book is about and why you might want to read it

Prologue: Three orphans share a common paternity: professional science communication, popular journalism and literary fiction are not as separate as they seem

Pt. 1. Professional science communication. Spreading the word: problems with publishing professional science

Walk like an Egyptian: the alien feeling of professional science writing

The future's bright? Professional science communication in the age of the internet

Counting the horse's teeth: professional standards in science's barter economy

Separating the wheat from the chaff: peer review on trial

Pt. 2. Science for the public: what science do people need and how might they get it? The public understanding of science (PUS) movement and its problems

Public engagement with science and technology (PEST): good principle, difficult practice

Citizen scientists? Democratic input into science policy

Teaching and learning science in school: implications for popular science communication

Pt. 3. Popular science communication: the press and broadcasting. What every scientist should know about the mass media

What every scientist should know about journalists

The influence of new media

How the media represent science

How should science journalists behave?

Pt. 4. The origins of science in cultural context: five historic dramas. A terrible storm in Wittenberg: natural knowledge through sorcery and evil

A terrible storm in the Mediterranean: controlling nature with white magic and religion

Thieving magpies: the subtle art of false projecting

Foolish virtuosi: natural philosophy emerges as a discipline but many cannot take it seriously

Is scientific knowledge 'true' or should it just be 'truthfully' deployed?

Pt. 5. Science in literature. Science and the Gothic: the three big nineteenth-century monster stories

Science fiction : serious literature or low grade entertainment?

Science in British literary fiction

Science on stage: the politics and ethics of science in cultural and educational contexts.

Summary

"In recent years governments and scientific establishments have been encouraging the development of professional and popular science communication. This book critically examines the origin of this drive to improve communication, and discusses why simply improving scientists' communication skills and understanding of their audiences may not be enough. Written in an engaging style, and avoiding specialist jargon, this book provides an insight into science's place in society by looking at science communication in three contexts: the professional patterns of communication among scientists, popular communication to the public and science in literature and drama. This three-part framework shows how historical and cultural factors operate in today's complex communication landscape and should be actively considered when designing and evaluating science communication. Ideal for students and practitioners in science, engineering and medicine, this book provides a better understanding of the culture, sociology and mechanics of professional and popular communication"--Provided by publisher.